NH school board member looking to ban football

[markomalley]

From WFXT-TV, Boston:
A school board member in one New Hampshire city is looking to bring an end to the high school’s football program.In a meeting on Monday, Paul Butler, a retired physician and member of the Dover School Board, claimed that trying to stop football both at the high school and throughout Dover was the “moral” and “ethical” thing to do in light of recent studies on the sport’s impact on overall health and well-being.
Butler reportedly cited literature that draws a connection between concussions incurred during football and long-term cognitive impacts in his argument.
The former physician also claims that young players will likely still lead with their heads even if coaches try to teach them how to properly tackle their opponent.
I guess that the moral and ethical thing to do is to also ban automobiles…since they can cause injury if not properly used. How about knives and forks, too?

Nothing like the nanny state.

 

[Mrs_Sally]

There is quite a bit of evidence that football is more harmful than other sports. This is one school board not a state or federal action so no need to start down the “nanny state” route. If the purpose of the school district is to educate children than not promoting a sport that disproportionately causes brain damage seems like a reasonable plan.

 

[garn9173]

I guess that the moral and ethical thing to do is to also ban automobiles…since they can cause injury if not properly used. How about knives and forks, too?

Nothing like the nanny state.

Agreed.

Should we get rid of girls soccer then? Title IX supporters would get their panties in a wad over that.

huffingtonpost.com/2012/05/16/girls-soccer-is-sport-wit_n_1522729.html

Although high school football and hockey have long been raising concern and spurring legislation due to their high incidences of concussions, a less-suspecting sport is now starting to make headlines for the risks it poses to young athletes – it’s girls’ soccer.

Football is the number-one athletic activity with the most concussions, but soccer comes in at a close second. The sport has seen a whopping 58 percent increase in cases of pediatric concussions in the past decade. The reason? Often, these injuries are the result of an an athlete ‘heading’ the soccer ball, or aggressively hitting it off the top of the head. The impact of this action can lead to concussions and, when performed in excess, even brain damage.

Another unsettling reality is that female soccer players are experiencing nearly twice as many concussions as their male counterparts, according to a recent study by the American Journal of Sports Medicine.

 

[Yerusalyim]

Again, Germany (Europe) does this correctly…get rid of all sports in school and organize local leagues instead. I am a high school teacher. Physical Education is a good thing…sports are terribly distracting. In Germany the local municipality organizes sports leagues…almost along the same lines as Khoury League Baseball. Why should the schools run these things?

 

[markomalley]

There is quite a bit of evidence that football is more harmful than other sports. This is one school board not a state or federal action so no need to start down the “nanny state” route. If the purpose of the school district is to educate children than not promoting a sport that disproportionately causes brain damage seems like a reasonable plan.

Not exactly. Although this specific story is about only one school district, the PC nanny state advocates are calling for this in many places.

For example, this Chicago Tribune piece articles.chicagotribune.com/2012-08-29/news/ct-perspec-0829-football-20120829_1_brain-trauma-high-school-football-brain-injury-research-institute

How successful? Who knows how successful it may be over time.

 

[Mrs_Sally]

Again, Germany (Europe) does this correctly…get rid of all sports in school and organize local leagues instead. I am a high school teacher. Physical Education is a good thing…sports are terribly distracting. In Germany the local municipality organizes sports leagues…almost along the same lines as Khoury League Baseball. Why should the schools run these things?

Brilliant. Safety considerations would then be implemented by parents and community leaders rather than schools.

 

[Crescentinus]

Again, Germany (Europe) does this correctly…get rid of all sports in school and organize local leagues instead. I am a high school teacher. Physical Education is a good thing…sports are terribly distracting. In Germany the local municipality organizes sports leagues…almost along the same lines as Khoury League Baseball. Why should the schools run these things?

So this is different from varsity leagues, yes?

 

[april32010]

they are concerned about lawsuits,

 

[sedonaman]

There is quite a bit of evidence that football is more harmful than other sports. …

This is just another step in emasculating boys.

… If the purpose of the school district is to educate children than not promoting a sport that disproportionately causes brain damage seems like a reasonable plan.

The purpose of education is not to educate children but to indoctrinate them into the “correct” dispositions.

---

“The assumption seems to be that the purpose of education is to induce correct opinion rather than to search for wisdom and to liberate the mind.” – Yale President Benno Schmidt

 

[fix]

Again, Germany (Europe) does this correctly…get rid of all sports in school and organize local leagues instead. I am a high school teacher. Physical Education is a good thing…sports are terribly distracting. In Germany the local municipality organizes sports leagues…almost along the same lines as Khoury League Baseball. Why should the schools run these things?

I did not know that. Great. Our culture worships sports now. I think that is a good start to putting things back into proper perspective.

 

[Mrs_Sally]

This is just another step in emasculating boys.

The purpose of education is not to educate children but to indoctrinate them into the “correct” dispositions.

---

“The assumption seems to be that the purpose of education is to induce correct opinion rather than to search for wisdom and to liberate the mind.” – Yale President Benno Schmidt

There are plenty of perfectly masculine men and boys who never played football and aren’t particularly interested in it. Most of the research was done by sports medicine groups who have no interest in getting rid of football completely.

There is nothing wrong with making sure a sport is safe especially for children. And putting the right people are in charge of organizing and managing the teams and leagues.

 

[torch621]

Pure nanny state nonsense, nothing more.

Say it with me; less government, less government, LESS GOVERNMENT!!!

 

[tafan]

There are plenty of perfectly masculine men and boys who never played football and aren’t particularly interested in it. Most of the research was done by sports medicine groups who have no interest in getting rid of football completely.

There is nothing wrong with making sure a sport is safe especially for children. And putting the right people are in charge of organizing and managing the teams and leagues.

Having had kids play all types of youth sports, and having played football myself in high school (so admittedly kind of biased), here are my thoughts.

1. Football is more dangerous than other sports. But football does not get really dangerous until the varsity high school level, where the size and speed of the boys really brings physics into play. Until that level, football is no worse than other sports. At a younger age, the most dangerous sport is, beyond all doubt, gymnastics. Hang around a gymnastics gym and see the number of kids in casts and on crutches.
2. I am certain of this: the absolute best at organizing sports, keeping things in balance, keeping them safe, are the local schools. The idea that independent leagues are better is ludicrous. Soccer, baseball, basketball,etc have all been almost ruined by the likes of select leagues, AAU competitions, etc. There is absolutley no balance in those leagues, the sport can take over a kid’s life very quickly. Or the kids just gets left behind and doesn’t participate.
3. Football is one sport that should only have trained, professional coaches at all levels. Hence pee wee football is a bad idea. Waiting until kids are in middle school and playing for the school is the best solution. Dad’s who remember their “glory days” might make good youth league coaches in other sports, but not football.
4. Football is the best sport for young men to learn a lot of good life skills: teamwork, toughness in the face of adversity (yes, playing through pain and injuries is a great life lesson, when it is well monitored by a professional), reliance on others. And you can excel in football without being a great athlete; this is tough to do in any other youth sport.

At the college and pro level, football is not much more than a gladiator game, I admit to liking it, and I admit to feeling really bad for the average NFL player whose lifespan is cut short by 20 years and has to fight through early dementia. But for youth sports, football is great.

But my main point: the idea of moving sports out of the schools and solely into independent leagues and organizations is idiotic. Anyone who favors that has not been around youth sports very much.

 

[fix]

There are plenty of perfectly masculine men and boys who never played football and aren’t particularly interested in it. Most of the research was done by sports medicine groups who have no interest in getting rid of football completely.

There is nothing wrong with making sure a sport is safe especially for children. And putting the right people are in charge of organizing and managing the teams and leagues.

There is almost no way this culture can separate worship of sport from schools and all else. It is like a drug. Games have no place in education. They should be separate. They should not be central to life as they are now to way too many people.

The idea that some game should involve serious head injury and found acceptable is beyond belief.

 

[sedonaman]

…the idea of moving sports out of the schools and solely into independent leagues and organizations is idiotic. Anyone who favors that has not been around youth sports very much.

I’ll second that. Hockey was never a popular sport in So. California until Disney formed a professional team. The demand went through the roof to provide it. Schools didn’t, and private leagues formed. My kids joined one. What a joke. There was only one league; it was on the 13-16 year-old level, and the league owner decided everything. He put all the best players on the same team; he changed the rules on a whim to satisfy his own desires. Example: during the season play, if a team’s goalie didn’t show up, they had to play without one. But during the play-off when his favorite team’s goalie didn’t show up, he made the one goalie alternate between teams. This created such division that one player demanded his money back for the whole season. The owner threw the money in his face. So much for private leagues.

 

[sedonaman]

…There is nothing wrong with making sure a sport is safe especially for children. And putting the right people are in charge of organizing and managing the teams and leagues.

That wasn’t the stated goal of the school board. Banning it completely was. The risk of injury is a red herring excuse. No one would buy it if they called it what it is: another battle in the war on boys.

 

[Mrs_Sally]

That wasn’t the stated goal of the school board. Banning it completely was. The risk of injury is a red herring excuse. No one would buy it if they called it what it is: another battle in the war on boys.

Oh please. There are no other sports the boys can play? And no other places to play football? What I see is the reverse. High schools so fixated on football that anything else a boy may want to do is shoved aside. As I said before not all boys are interested in football.

 

[fix]

That wasn’t the stated goal of the school board. Banning it completely was. The risk of injury is a red herring excuse. No one would buy it if they called it what it is: another battle in the war on boys.

My friend football, and other sports, were never what they are today. Boys were boys long before we worshipped football. It is a cultural idol that has been given worship for far too long.

 

[sedonaman]

Oh please. There are no other sports the boys can play? And no other places to play football? What I see is the reverse. High schools so fixated on football that anything else a boy may want to do is shoved aside. As I said before not all boys are interested in football.

An internet search on “war on boys” produced 38,900 hits. I have learned that whenever the educational establishment wants to change, there is an ulterior motive behind it. If football didn’t exist, it would be something else. :sad_yes:

 

[Tampa_Dave]

Agreed.

Should we get rid of girls soccer then? Title IX supporters would get their panties in a wad over that.

huffingtonpost.com/2012/05/16/girls-soccer-is-sport-wit_n_1522729.html